West Central Railways Floats Tender To Set Up 12 MW Rooftop Solar Systems

The West Central Railway’s Jabalpur Division has issued an invitation for bids for the state-by-state appointment of organizations to carry out grid-connected rooftop solar projects of 12 MW capacity in Jabalpur, Bhopal, and Kota in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, respectively.

Bids must be submitted by February 9, 2023, which will be revealed on the same day.

The empanelment will be valid for one year starting on the day the letter of award is issued. The project should be finished within 240 days after the effective date.

The chosen bidder must execute a power purchase agreement (PPA) and carry out project operations and maintenance (O&M) for a period of 25 years.

The cost of the bid document is Rs. 34,810 which must be paid by each bidder. Within 30 days of signing the PPA, the winning bidder must provide Rs. 1.6 million/MW as performance security. The winning bidder must also provide an earnest money deposit of Rs. 1.07 million.

This 12 MW solar project is divided into two categories, one with rooftop installations of capacity ranging between 10 kW and 100 kW, and the other, with capacities between 100 kW and 500 kW.

The bidders must also provide a state-by-state bid, where they intend to sell power. Part-capacity bids would not be accepted.

The PPA will also include measures for net metering in accordance with state rules and regulations now in effect or as mutually agreed upon by Zonal Railways and SPD.

According to the bidding conditions, the project developers must use a net metering method to deliver electricity to only the zonal railways.

Prior to the scheduled date for the technical bid submission, the bidders must have experience installing grid-connected solar rooftop systems with a minimum aggregate capacity of 200 kW in developer or EPC mode.

Alternately, bidders must have implemented and commissioned any grid-connected systems with a minimum aggregate capacity of 1,000 kW in developer or EPC mode for residential,  commercial, industrial, social, and government projects.

The bidder’s average annual turnover over the previous 3 fiscal years should have been Rs. 15 million, and a positive net worth for all three years.